Barex Colourlife Shampoo & Conditioner

Recently I received a box of sample products from one of the PR companies I am in touch with. I hadn’t heard of any of the brands, which is always really exciting to me. I love discovering new brands and sharing them with others.

Among the items in the box were these cute tiny bottles of Barex Colourlife Shampoo & Conditioner. I haven’t colored my hair in a really long while (probably a year), but I thought why not have a go at the shampoo & conditioner anyway. I’ve been thinking of coloring my hair again sometime.

So I gave it a shot. Now, coloring your hair can be stressful on it. Part of the reason I stopped coloring is to try and keep it as healthy as possible so it will grow longer faster. Shampoos and conditioners for colored hair are supposed to (in general):

– Repair/shield hair from the damage of coloring
– Help protect color from fading

They should be neither harsh, nor drying, and very nurturing to the hair and scalp. So with that in mind, I was pretty disappointed in these products. My hair is fine, but plentiful, and normal– not really dry or particularly oily. However upon using the Barex shampoo & conditioner for a few days my hair became rough, dry, and almost straw-like. After blow drying it was frizzy, even though I use a heat-protecting conditioner religiously before I blow dry. Yuck.

It’s really not often that I post negative reviews. This is because I do not usually try a product if I don’t at least think it might work for me, so I don’t often have too many negative experiences. Also, I try to always look for the positive about a product. Just because something didn’t work for me doesn’t mean it will be awful for everyone. (Although there are always those fun products that are just GHASTLY and when that happens I warn everyone to stay far, far away!) However, I really can’t find anything I like about this shampoo and conditioner at all. The conditioner claims to add “weightless shine”. My hair certainly wasn’t weighed down, but it sure as hell wasn’t shiny either. It was dry and frizzy. Ew. I had to use a TON of leave-in conditioner to get it looking halfway decent, and that’s no good for gals w/ fine hair like me.

Sorry Barex, can’t all be winners.